Samui Sharks Swim Team Sweeps to 1st Place

It was a fantastic sweep of 1st & 2nd place wins by Samui Sharks Swim Team at Oonrak School, host to an exciting island-wide swim team competition between the International School of Samui ‘Samui Sharks Swim Team’, Oonrak and Lamai International School on Koh Samui.

Thrilling the ISS swimmers along with their coaches and families in the stands and proving to all that the early morning starts paid off, ISS achieved many 1st and 2nd place wins giving them an overall 1st place win at the first swim meet of this academic year.

ISS took a squad of 27 swimmers, aged 6 to 14 years, a boy and girl racing in each age group. The races included: 25m Freestyle, 25m Backstroke, 25m Breastroke and a special age 13/14 years 75m medley race with students placed 1st, 2nd and 3rd in each race receiving a medal. The students were very proud to be coming home with the 1st place cup this year and looking forward to hosting their own meet in May/June 2017.

ISS Sharks Swim Team was established in 2013 and head coach, Mr Mark Withers, has seen the team flourish. The ISS Sharks swimmers train a minimum of 4 sessions per week in the school pool. Their competition practice is tested to the limits when the squad attends swim meets across the region usually against much bigger schools. ISS boasts a 25m training pool with 4 lanes and starter blocks. There is covered and cool seating area for around 100 people and changing rooms and showers are available within the school.

The team will be travelling to Phuket 31st March 2017 for the annual ‘Rocket Science 3 Day Swim Fest’- with many swim teams from across Asia and South East Asia taking part.

A number of swimming events such as the Swimathon, a fundraising event where pupils swim as many lengths of the pool as possible in a set time, are organized for the pupils. Also house swimming competitions are organized in the Primary & Senior schools to teach children teamwork and a competitive spirit and all swimming levels and abilities are catered for at ISS.

Swimming lessons at the International School of Samui are an integral part of the curriculum with all age groups from Reception and up taught a weekly swimming class by qualified and experienced Swimming Coaches. The best swimmers, and those highly motivated with good potential, are invited to join the Sharks Swim Team which awards five extra swim sessions on offer per week. ECAs (extra-curricular activities) run from Monday to Thursday to allow students as young as 4 years to learn and improve their swimming strokes and to develop their fitness levels.

There are further options to improve swimming techniques and stamina during out of school hours by joining the Stingrays Swim Club, with 2 squads, junior and senior, offering swimmers an extra opportunity to swim up to 5 sessions per week at the ISS 25m pool. The club for swimmers aged 6 – 16 years is open to children from across the island. For more information about Samui Stingrays visit their FaceBook page or contact the school directly.

Sport and extra-curricular activities are integral to the ethos of ISS as the school believes it builds team spirit and confidence amongst the students as well as honing coordination and other spatial skills. Swimming is a lifetime sport and enjoyed by students and people of all ages. In recognizing this ISS also provides adult swimming times and swim lessons for adults and adult beginners. For further information go to www.iss.ac.th